Of Butterflies and Bee Balm

Like autumn me and
the apple tree,
fruit plump and red,
far as I can see.

Copyright 2017 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: One thing we all have in common, whatever our color, class or location: we have to eat and drink. If we stop to add up our similarities, they far outnumber our differences. I’m in the land of lizards and palmetto bugs today, getting ready for a day of filing and organizing for a sick relative. For a few moments of sunrise, I wanted to think about the ways we are all the same.

Happy Poetry Friday and thanks to Jone at Check it Out for hosting. Wish her congratulations because she has had photographs selected for a juried show at the Oregon State Fair.

Sharing the butterfly love. One of the most entrancing places I’ve visited was the Kuranda Butterfly Sanctuary, with a flutter of vibrant colour and beauty. Far North Qld has the Ulysses Blue (exquisite!) and Birdwing (gorgeous!) – and to see so many set against the lush green foliage – and us! – was just lovely.

Lovely poem and that photo is stunning. I saw just such a butterfly on a walk this morning–along with a deer and four turkeys–but didn’t get my camera out in time to capture it. I have also been wanting to dwell on the ways we are the same these days. Despite our differences, we have so much more in common.

Thank you for the black swallowtail and poem. It’s crazy. I’ve raised 3 caterpillars to adulthood, but those are the only 3 adult black swallowtails I’ve seen all summer long. It’s more than crazy. It feels downright ominous…

What a nice thought to imagine you writing in the dawn about this beautiful flower and the swallowtail having its breakfast, just like us! Wishing you good times helping your relative, a nice thing, too!

All true. We plowed through 4 years of un-filed paperwork for a couple that has terrible health problems. Their office was a series of teetering stacks of opened and unopened mail dating back to 2014. Took days of work. Whew. I never want to face an office like that again.

Simply gorgeous….the firework flower that tastes of raspberry and the stunning black swallowtail. It’s such a moment of summer that I’ll bet if I look back on this in February I’ll feel warm and smile. Beautiful poem.

Food is such a wonderful commonality – I remember volunteering for a newcomer’s welcoming society, and any activity or discussion around food and cooking was a sure hit, because we all love to share food with the people we love.

Yes, food is a great connector. I remember people around the food we share. My grandmother’s sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. My stepmother’s candied baked beans. My best friend’s cinnamon and sugar toast.